Alan Chalmers is Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, where he taught from 1971, first in the School of Philosophy, and from 1987 in the Unit for the History and Philosophy of Science, which he was instrumental in setting up. Born in Bristol, UK, in 1939, he graduated in physics at the University of Bristol in 1961, and received an MSc in physics from the University of Manchester in 1964. He taught physics and the history of science for two years before returning to full-time study at the University of London, where he received his PhD in history and philosophy of science in 1971. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Humanities in 1997 and was a Visiting Scholar in the Philosophy Department at Flinders University from 2000 to 2010.
Preface to the first edition Preface to the second edition Preface to the third edition Preface to the fourth edition Introduction Science as knowledge derived from the facts of experience Observation as practical intervention Experiment Deriving theories from the facts: induction Introducing falsificationism Sophisticated falsificationism, novel predictions and the growth of science The limitations of falsificationism Theories as structures I: Kuhn's paradigms Theories as structures II: research programmes Feyerabend's anarchistic theory of science Methodical changes in method The Bayesian approach The new experimentalism Why should the world obey laws? Realism and anti-realism Epilogue to the third edition Postscript Notes Bibliography Index of names
